the Edo State secretariat of the National Youth Service
Corps in Benin has been gutted by fire, which destroyed valuables worth
millions of naira.
It was gathered that the fire, which started at about 3pm on
Saturday, destroyed a store containing hundreds of unused mattresses and
chairs.
Some offices containing official files and records and other
office equipment were burnt.
When our correspondent got to the scene on Sunday, he noted
that a few items were salvaged.
A source in the area said the fire was a spillover from a
nearby building where a rubbish dump had been set on fire, but left unattended
to.
The building and the NYSC secretariat are separated by a
perimeter fence.
It was also learnt that but for the intervention of
operatives of the state fire service and the Nigerian Air Force, the fire would
have spread to the finance and accounts unit.
It was also gathered that the state Coordinator, Mr. Yusuf
Abdulahi, would assess the level of damage on Monday.
“The fire started at about 3pm yesterday (Saturday). It was
caused by a woman burning rubbish on the premises of a nearby building. The
fire was near the fence,” the source said.
The NYSC Public Relations Officer, Mr. Benjamin Esan,
confirmed the incident.
Esan added that the management had yet to get details about
the fire, adding that it just returned from an orientation programme for corps
members at the NYSC ýcamp in Okada, in the Ovia North-East Local Government
Area of the state.
He said, “We just returned from the camp. So, I cannot
really say much until Monday.”
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